OSP: Rashford & Kardashian - Language and Representation

Our OSP CSPs are the online presence of Manchester Utd and England footballer Marcus Rashford and celebrity influencer Kim Kardashian.

This is an in-depth CSP so we need to study all four areas of the theoretical framework: Language, Representation, Audience and Industry. This first case study will focus on Language and Representation.

Marcus Rashford

Marcus Rashford is a Manchester Utd and England footballer who has used social media and the internet to create a strong brand. He has been praised for his high-profile campaigns on food poverty (putting pressure on the government to provide free school meals in holidays during Covid-19) as well as homelessness and books for children. 

We need to study his website, social media and how he has created his Marcus Rashford brand. 

Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian is one of the most successful social media influencers of all time. She uses her social media presence to promote herself and her brands to her 350 million followers. Kardashian is highly sought after as a brand ambassador and is paid millions of dollars by companies to promote their products.

With Kim Kardashian, we need to study the influence of celebrities and how she has managed to build a billion dollar empire using social media and celebrity.

Language analysis

GLOW glossary words

Convergence: When two or more media forms can be accessed in one place or one device e.g Marcus Rashford’s website also links to his books, social media feeds and video content. 

Online engagement/dialogue: Communication online e.g between a celebrity and a fan. 

Endorsement: When a celebrity or influential figure recommends something to the public. 

Website conventions

Website key conventions include:

• Logo/brand identity
• Navigation – menus
• Central image
• Multimedia features – e.g. video 
• Social media links / integration

Social media conventions

Social media key conventions include:

• Logo/brand identity
• Bio (personal details/information)
• Profile image
• Background/banner image
• Images and video
• Online engagement/audience interaction

Media Language: Genre and narrative

Marcus Rashford has created a strong personal brand that merges different genres – footballer, campaigner / activist, influencer, celebrity.

His online presence emphasises his working class background and how hard his mum worked as a single parent. This creates a narrative of success against the odds. He then uses this to drive his campaigning work on food poverty and reading.

Kardashian, in contrast, is far more focused on fashion, wealth and celebrity. She herself said she wanted to be famous more than anything.

Marcus Rashford story:

MOTD Mural:

Real reason behind Kim Kardashian's fame:

Representations

Marcus Rashford’s online presence offers a real mix of representations – some reinforcing stereotypes of masculinity, footballers and race/ethnicity but others subverting them. He also looks to challenge stereotypes regarding poverty, benefits and social class.

Kim Kardashian could be viewed as an empowering businesswoman – building a billion dollar empire. But she also reinforces negative stereotypes regarding female appearance and the importance of celebrity.

Use Daniel Chandler’s representation theory of CAGE to analyse representations in the media. Here's an example for Marcus Rashford’s online presence:

• C – Class (social class – working class people)
• A – Age (youth)
• G – Gender (masculinity)
• E – Ethnicity (black British)

OSP: Language and Representation blog tasks

Work through the following tasks to cover the Language and Representation key concepts for our OSP CSPs:

Language

1) Make two lists - one of website conventions used on Marcus Rashford and Kim Kardashian's official website and one of social media conventions found on their Instagram pages. 

2) How does Marcus Rashford's website and social media promote his brand? Give at least three examples of different pages / posts / images from his website or social media. 

3) How does Kim Kardashian's website and social media promote her brand? Give at least three examples of different pages / posts / images from her brand websites or social media. 

4) How does Marcus Rashford's online presence use the narrative of his childhood upbringing to create a positive brand identity?

5) How does Kim Kardashian's website and social media promote other media products or websites using the Kardashian brand (e.g. Keeping Up With The Kardashians TV show)? 

Representations

1) How does Marcus Rashford use different aspects of mise-en-scene (e.g. clothes/costume/ settings/locations) to create representations of himself on his website and social media? 

2) What examples can you find of website pages, social media posts or aspects of his brand that create a positive representation of Marcus Rashford? You may wish to comment on his discussion of family or his campaigns - his page on the FareShare campaign website may help with this question.

3) How does Marcus Rashford's online presence challenge stereotypes? Think about gender (masculinity), race/ethnicity, social class or football here. 

4)  What representation of celebrity is created by Kim Kardashian's website and social media? How are audience encouraged to view celebrity? 

5) What gender stereotypes are reinforced or challenged in Kim Kardashian's online presence? 

Due date: on Google Classroom

Grade 8/9 extension tasks

Look at this Marcus Rashford tweet. How does this help Rashford create a positive representation of himself and also control the media narrative?

Read this Guardian feature on Marcus Rashford being a Hero of 2020. What representation of Rashford does this offer?

Read this Guardian Books interview with Marcus Rashford. How does Rashford's work on reading and literacy help his reputation? Can you find any other interesting representations here?

Read this news story on Rashford being named one of the top ten most powerful black Britons. What does this suggest about race and ethnicity in Britain and the British media?

How do Marcus Rashford and Kim Kardashian's online presence reflect modern society and culture?